Alice didn’t pause to consider. She simply acted. Shooting off her seat on the bed, she slammed into Dolly and slapped her hand over the other girl’s mouth.

Either the muffling hand or the uncharacteristic violence shocked Dolly into silence.

For a moment the two girls stared at each other: One terrified, the other amazed at herself for acting so boldly.

Alice listened for the space of three breaths for somebody to come charging in or rip open the curtain that acted as their door and demand what was going on.

Instead, there was only silence.

It was just before dusk – not the official quitting time yet. No one else must have gotten off their shift yet.

Dolly struggled and Alice dropped her hand from her mouth.

The moment Dolly was free she pointed an accusing finger at Prim. “What is that thing?”

Prim puffed out her wings and arched her sinuous neck to hiss at the girl.

“Prim, be nice,” Alice said. The little dragon fell silent and Alice turned back to Dolly. “This is Prim. She… she’s my friend.”

“Is that a dragon?” Dolly gasped and backed a half step, which put her to the opposite end of the small space. “It is! Alice, do you know what those things can do?”

Over the last week, Alice had not let herself think about all the awful tales of dragons she’d grown up hearing.

Prim, she told herself, wasn’t like that.

“She’s not like the dragons in the stories. Prim doesn’t hoard gold. She doesn't have a dark class. She’s very sweet.”

“Sweet?” Dolly replied faintly. Then she straightened and looked hard at Alice. “You made a pet out of it? A dragon won’t stay sweet for long. We have to tell somebody. Breydon needs to know.”

“No!” Alice yelped. “Prim isn’t a wild dragon. She’s mine, but she’s not a pet. I…” She gulped. “I changed my class and she’s a living aspect of that.”

The definition slipped out without her realizing it. Once she said the words, however, she realized it was true. She hadn’t quite known what an aspect was at first, but over the last few days she had slowly come to realize that Prim was a living manifestation of her class’s power.

Alice didn’t have skills. She had a dragon who had skills for her.

Also, being an aspect of her class didn’t make the dragon any less real. Magicians, wizards, mages, and other casters manifested objects – and sometimes living creatures – out of nothing all the time.

So why shouldn’t she be able to do that with a dragon?

Dolly’s gaze sharpened and Alice realized she was being Identified. The one automatic skill everyone received when they reached fourteen. It was so common, Alice didn’t bother to include it on her sheet.

“Alice,” Dolly said slowly as if talking to someone who’d had too much to drink, “You’re still showing as a General Laborer.

Alice was about to explain that hers was now a hidden class. But she was distracted as Prim had lowered her defensive stance and crept closer to Dolly. Extending her neck, the dragon tried to get a good sniff at her.

“Look, she’s friendly, see?” Alice said, encouraged. “Prim just wants to be friends.”

Dolly’s gaze flicked from Alice to Prim and back again. “She won’t bite? You swear?”

“She’s very kind,” Alice confirmed.

Reluctantly, Dolly held out her hand for Prim to sniff.

Only because Alice knew Prim so well did she recognize the look of distaste that flashed over Prim’s face. It was a subtle shifting of the rosy gold scales over her muzzle.

Well, the fact Prim was making an attempt to be friendly was a start. The two would have to get along if they were all to share the same cubicle.

Meanwhile, Alice clearly saw doubt shadow Dolly’s face. Time to redirect her.

When it came to Dolly, that meant getting her to talk about herself.

“So much has happened over the last week,” Alice said, “You’ve been gone, and I met Prim, but I haven’t heard a peep from you. What’s happening with Breydon?”

Instantly, Dolly brightened. And though she kept a wary eye on Prim, she happily gushed about her time with the noble boy. Apparently, Breydon had made a point to romance her every night as if she was a high classer – including taking her out on the town to fancy restaurants and some events. They had even spoken of marriage.

It said something about Dolly’s self-centeredness that she would rather gush about her illicit boyfriend than ask more questions about the literal dragon in the room.

“In fact, I’m supposed to meet Breydon in a few minutes…” Dolly sighed regretfully. “I should get going now. I might be late. He hates tardiness.”

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“You’re leaving now?” Alice repeated. “But Dolly–”

“He’s taking me to the opera,” Dolly said over Alice’s objection. “Can you believe it? Me, a General Laborer nobody rubbing elbows with the cream of the town.” She giggled and did a little twirl as if imagining herself in a ballroom… even though Alice didn’t think operas were dances.

“You won’t tell anyone about Prim, will you?” Alice asked anxiously, “Not even Breydon?”

Dolly gave her a look. “Why would I?”

“Please, Dolly. Promise me.”

Dolly gave an airy giggle. “Why would I tell him? A dragon in the General Laborer’s barn? He’ll think I’ve gone mad.”

Still giggling, she turned and made her way out.

Prim didn’t waste a second and hopped on Alice’s shoulder the moment Dolly was out of view. That was no small thing any more because her weight made Alice have to brace herself.

“She smells of lies,” Prim hissed.

Alice opened her mouth to defend her friend, but closed it again.

“She’s going to the opera…” A feeling of slow dread curdled her stomach and sent ice through her veins, “But she didn’t even change out of her work smock.”

Should she send Prim after Dolly to make sure she kept her word?

Prim had her Concealment skill, but that might not hold up if the Guards were on alert. Some of their skills were meant to find people who were hiding from them.

Alice didn’t have time to hesitate. She bent to pull her straw mattress away from the cubicle wall.

There was a hidden cubby she’d dug between the mattress and the wall where she hid her stash of coins. There should be twenty coppers – her entire life savings.

Instead of twenty, she saw three.

Prim had warned her that Dolly was going through her things. Alice had guessed that meant clean uniforms or hair pins. Not stealing her money.

She hadn’t listened – hadn’t wanted to believe.

Of course Dolly wouldn’t want to look like the poor little General Laborer while Breydon was courting her. New clothing and makeup cost money.

Anger helped thaw the ice in her veins.

Scooping up her three coins, Alice spoke one word. “Prim.”

The dragon crouched to take a firmer hold on Alice’s shoulder. Her scales shifted color to conceal her shape among Alice’s fall of hair.

Alice rushed out the cubical and through the barn. She didn’t have time to grab extra clothing.

It wouldn’t take long for Dolly to find a Guard.

The moment they reached the light outside, Prim took off from Alice’s shoulder. Her beautiful scales shifted again in subtle blues and browns. It became that much harder to track her, and easier to believe she was a passing pigeon rather than a dragon who had grown to the size of a cat.

“What do we do?” Prim called from above.

Alice had long suspected she was the only one who could hear Prim speak. This was confirmed by the fact that none of the General Laborers she passed looked up to hear the voice piping down from the sky.

Some threw odd glances at her quick pace, but all were too tired to ask why a girl was distressed. They were the lowest of the low. Someone was always in distress.

“Keep a lookout for me,” she murmured after she passed a group of chatting General Laborers. “Tell me if you see guards coming.”

“I see them!”

Already?

Alice immediately stepped off the servant’s path and into the deep hedgerows, wincing as she trod over sprouting tulips she had dug into the soil with her own hands last fall. She ducked behind a tree just as she heard Dolly’s voice from down the lane.

“Hurry! She’s been possessed and thinks the thing is her pet.”

“You say it’s a dragon, miss?” one of the Guards asked.

Miss? How had Dolly gotten so high and mighty all of a sudden?

“Yes, it’s a dragon, though it’s small. But it must have powers to hoodwink Alice.”

Alice peeked past the tree in time to see them walk by. Dolly strode in front as if she were a young noblewoman.

Hoodwinked? Prim, dangerous? How dare she.

Alice balled her fists but kept quiet.

It wouldn’t take long for the Guards to reach the barn and find her gone. Once the alarm was raised, the front gate would be shut.

Turning, Alice continued through the gardens – all of which were lush so as to conceal the tall brick wall that surrounded the estate.

She quickly reached the wall. Thick ivy grew up the bricks, some of which pulled away in mats when she tried to climb up it.

She was a slight girl, but too heavy for the ivy to hold.

Prim fluttered to a nearby flowering tree. “Here!”

Alice looked. One of the branches was close enough to the top of the wall… if she jumped. She swallowed hard, not liking heights.

Then she heard the sound of ringing. The alarm had been struck.

Something about the room had vindicated Dolly’s story. Perhaps the Guards had exotic skills she didn’t know about. Maybe they could track her here.

A new bolt of fear gave her strength. She began to climb the tree. The bark was rough enough for her thin shoes to catch it, though she scraped her fingers.

Alice kept climbing with Prim chittering encouragement.

The branch was higher up than it looked from the ground and bowed alarmingly when she started to walk on it.

Prim fluttered to the top of the wall as if to show Alice that it was easy.

“Keep using your concealment skill,” Alice reminded her.

She took a breath and used a higher branch to help her balance. But the higher branch was shorter than the lower branch and she had to walk the last few feet on her own.

She did it at a quick pace and jumped…

… Too far.

She hit the top of the wall and had to flail her arms to keep from overbalancing.

Prim let out a cry that sounded like a diving hawk. She fluttered to Alice’s shoulder, claws hooking into her shirt and flapping wildly to try to keep her steady.

Somehow Alice kept her balance and fell into a crouch. Then she held the edge and eased herself down the other side before dropping.

She hit a dusty road on the other side. Beyond was a grimy factory surrounded by squat buildings. Past that, the dirty, dank town. There wasn’t a hint of green to be seen.

It was a whole other world from the lush estate that had been her home from when she’d turned fourteen.

In the distance, she still heard the faint clamor of warning bells. Would the guards look for her out here?

She didn’t know, but it was best not to chance it.

“Keep concealed,” she reminded Prim.

Then she headed directly to the maze of half collapsed shelters, hoping to lose her pursuers in the slums.